100 Best Books To Gift & Read

1. The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
   
2. The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
   
3. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
4. The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr
   
5. Winnie-the-Pooh by AA Milne
   
6. The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton
   
7. The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy
   
8. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
   
9. The Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson
   
10. Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
    
11. Watership Down by Richard Adams
    
12. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling
    
13. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
    
14. Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
    
15. Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman
    
16. I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith
    
17. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
    
18. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
    
19. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend
    
20. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
    
21. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
    
22. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
    
23. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
    
24. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
    
25. The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
    
26. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
    
27. Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
    
28. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
    
29. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
    
30. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
    
31. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for His Hat by Oliver Sacks
    
32. The Hare with the Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal
    
33. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
    
34. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carre
    
35. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
    
36. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
    
37. Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
    
38. The Commitments by Roddy Doyle
    
39. Schindler’s Ark by Thomas Keneally
    
40. Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin
    
41. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
    
42. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
    
43. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
    
44. The Mill on the Floss by George Elliot
    
45. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    
46. The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien
    
47. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
    
48. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
    
49. The Stand by Stephen King
    
50. The Time Machine by HG Wells
    
51. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
    
52. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
    
53. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
    
54. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick
    
55. A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
    
56. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
    
57. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
    
58. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
    
59. Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
    
60. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
    
61. White Teeth by Zadie Smith
    
62. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
    
63. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
    
64. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
    
65. Atonement by Ian McEwan
    
66. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
    
67. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
    
68. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
    
69. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
    
70. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
    
71. The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
    
72. Last Orders by Graham Swift
    
73. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
    
74. Dissolution by CJ Sansom
    
75. London Fields by Martin Amis
    
76. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson
    
77. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
    
78. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
    
79. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
    
80. Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee
    
81. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
    
82. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
    
83. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
    
84. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
    
85. Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
    
86. Rebecca by Daphne de Maurier
    
87. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
    
88. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
    
89. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
    
90. My Man Jeeves by PG Wodehouse
    
91. Freakonomics by Steven D Levitt
    
92. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawkins
    
93. Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
    
94. Wild Swans by Jung Chang
    
95. London: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd
    
96. Venice by Jan Morris
    
97. Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson
    
98. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
    
99. A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil Macgregor
    
100. Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
     

I want to remember this list to gift my grandchildren. Some gifts are priceless.

There is no friend as loyal as a book. ~ Ernest Hemingway

 

Self Discovery:

Many people say that whenever you’ve read something it becomes a part of you. I don’t this is true. I’m glad too, I’ve read some crazy stuff. While looking through the books I’ve kept over the years, to find what I had on hand by an particular author/ speaker, now realizing that I need to reread them & maybe purchase “The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth a Book by John C. Maxwell.” I found 3 of his works in my bedroom/office closet, which means: A quick reference. Not immediate, as those on my desk. Then I realized I hadn’t recorded much, if any, of his works to memory. To me, that says a lot. Then while foraging thru where I keep long term books. I found my all time favorite book. Do you know how I know it’s my favorite? It’s not even what you might think it is? Nope, it’s not the Bible (You really don’t want to see my personal bible. Its wore out … It’s a really good book). I’m sure that most of you have never even heard of the author, but you know you’ve delved into a book when it looks like this…

A Good Book

Pages marked by tabs, bookmarks, paper clips, lined & highlighted. It even has my teddy bear bookplate with my name inside the front cover, that meant I was going to loan it. The middle section is tabbed in red – not clear like the others that’s hand written – not typed as the other tabs. It merely says, “God’s Voice.” To me, that speaks volumes. And… No… Sorry, I won’t loan it out. It has personal notes written inside that are meant just for me. I do hope that everyone has a book like this one somewhere in your life. I actually have two, not sharing that either. You can read a million books but a really good book – it’s a keeper.

A good book is the precious lifeblood of a master spirit. ~ John Milton

 

Favorite holiday books – do you have some to recommend?

I’m thinking more about children’s books with holiday themes/messages, but if you have a grown-up recommendation that would be great, too! We have an illustrated “Twas the Night Before Christmas” that we read last year, & we’ll be reading “The Christmas Story” as told by Matthew. Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost…, we’ll read after we open the gifts on Christmas Eve.

What about you? Tell us your holiday book faves!

Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers. ~ Isaac Asimov

 

Monday Vivre

Today’s Daily Task List:
A Post Office (left over from Saturday)
B Clean the oven.
B Launder pillows.
B Menu Planning/Grocery shopping.
B Vacuum
B Clean the bedrooms
B Change the sheet’s
B Prepare Birthday and Anniversary Cards for following month.
B Vacuum & wipe fireplace screen.
B Wash ventilation hood filters.
B Add Dishwasher Magic to the dishwasher.
C Fill outside bird feeders

sh… if I added Farmville on Facebook to my list, that would have already gotten a check-mark! LOL I don’t feel guilty, I’m multitasking here. I’m finishing a horrible book, that I’ve picked up and put down, passed on over and over, it hurts my brain, writing my blog and checking on my day, week and month. Cut me a little slack. Thanks

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Top Searches

rachel howard james turner adkins, john dolesbury reed, metcalf adkins family mews, amos metcalf, tostada de carne asada

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Things I Want Too Do This Year

Learn to play chess and Mahjong. Everyone in my family, play chess…. well except for me. I’ve never cared for it. My kids have chess tournaments with my older sister Shirley, at every holiday party, but I’m just not ready to embrace it, well until now that is. I should get with the program here. Most of my friends play Maj, but it was another thing I didn’t’ have time for, well until now, so I’ll be looking for a few pointers.  I still have about 6 months before Christmas to learn. Wish me luck!

Books I want to start reading this month:

• Redbreast by the Norwegian, Jo Nesbo, I think this series, which focuses on a police inspector named Harry Hole and takes place in Norway, is going to be fantastic.

• Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, Tom Franklin, novel comes from the way children in the South are taught to spell Mississippi: “M-I crooked letter. I’ve already downloaded it from Audible.com and I can’t wait to hear it.

• OPTIONAL: The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass’ published 1959. is a picaresque magical-realist social-satire fairy-tale on Nazi Germany. This is one on my “must read, sometime list”. Book Club is reading it, but I’m still not sure I’ll have time this month, but I can fit it in, I’ll give it a look see. No I haven’t read Crabwalk, but will put it on my reading list; if I like this one.

I’m finally making myself finish this one:

• Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West, its a 1985 Western novel by American author Cormac McCarthy. McCarthy’s fifth book, it was published by Random House, (I HATE IT!… Brutal).

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Family Business

Tomorrow is my Grandson Troy’s (Alexander Troy Whiteside) a birthday. I bought him a M2 Machine: 1966 Ford Mustang G.T. 350 (supposedly signed by Carroll Shelby) black with white striped.  His Grandpa’s favorite car to do. So maybe I’ll have Grandpa sign it too.  I’ll pick him up an outfit, but he won’t even notice that. That’s a Grandma thing and a “Birthday Dollar”; that’s a family tradition.

Next Monday the 29th, will be the remembrance of  Bonnie and Bill’s Anniversary. I’ll keep her in my prayers and help her celebrate the life they shared together.

Friday the 30th, will be my Dad’s birthday remembrance. I think he would have been 77. Doesn’t really seem that old now, but then when I think about Ron Paul running for office, then I realize that it is.

Saturday the 31st, is my wonderful sister-in-law Jan (Janet Teresa O’Leary) and my brother-in-law Vernon Phillip Metcalf’s anniversary! And, Anthony’s Great Niece Miranda Moore’s birthday.

Next month will be equally as busy. Anthony’s first cousin Chuck’s daughter Kimberly Adkins is having her baby-shower June 3, I can’t wait. Its the same day as my nephew Brandon Adkins and 1st cousin Saundra (Sandy’s) Birthday.

I want to wish them many happiness’s, long life, and all our best.

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Thought of the Day

Man’s vanity may well approach the infinite in capacity, but his knowledge remains imperfect, and however much he comes to value his judgments, ultimately he must submit them before a higher court.  Here there can be no special pleading.

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Research Notes

1. Shawnee Remnant Band politics and Drum ceremonies.
2. History of the American Indian as they live today.
3. How to find lineage and DNA markers for Native’s?
4. Family Pets and why they got those particular breeds ?
5. Traveling and migrations of Surname families? (still baffles me)
6. Where my Great-Grandparent Reed’s are buried? (unmarked  grave – needs marker)
7. ?X Great-Great Grandpa Lyles Dolesbury age 105 of Magoffin County, Kentucky.
8. Ursula Reed Cook
9. JOHN FRANKLIN REED LaFollette, Tennessee
10. Havilla (Viley or Vibey) and Martha Cook.
11. Martha Reed vs Martha Hammond
12. Shawano-Metis = Melungeon (How can you be 1/2 Shawano-Metis, when the very definition of Melungeon is “tri-racial?”

Here’s a dozen things to keep my mind busy this week. its no wonder I never get any sleep. Plus this RAIN is going on forever isn’t it. I was a little scared yesterday, when I went outside after the rain had stopped and the sun was shining brightly, NO RAINBOW! I hope that doesn’t mean what I think it means.

Have a wonderful week everybody. Next week is Memorial Day, after you’ve placed flowers on a friend or family members grave and played a few games, overeaten at the ball-field or family picnics, please do Thank a Serviceman, without who’s valued heroics,  we could nothing.

Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.

As always, God Bless and Welcome to the Family,

Sheila Jean Adkins Metcalf

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A man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them. ~ Mark Twain

 

Gold Star Wives of America

As you know my Grandpa Odis Stump married 4 times.  His last wife was Melva M McClintic Lindsay Stump.  A new book is just out called “GOLD STAR WIVES OF AMERICA” and it lists Melva as the wife of a fallen hero. Her first husband died in the service of his country. Here is an excerpt from that book.

MELVA M LINDSAY STUMP was born Feb 23, 1910 in Middletown, OH.  She married Norman Lee Lindsay, born Feb 19, 1910. They met on a blind date June 1930 and were married June 24, 1938 at the 1st United Methodist Church.
Norman served the Navy as SF3/c entering May 31, 1943. He was on a flagship carrying Adm. Spruance. Served in the Pacific theatre of operations and was involved in all invasions.
He died during the sinking of the USS Indianapolis July 31, 1945. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.
Melva had two years of junior college-business education. She married Odis Stump April 8, 1989. They met at Senior Citizens. Because of a complete knee replacement she is limited at present in doing very much.

Melva the daughter of John Edward McClintic and May Trautman McClintic of Middletown, died on December 20, 2002. Melva never had any children.

Melva aka Mel was a stern retired school teacher with a lovely home in Middletown. I should mention that she was a very short woman with extremely expensive tastes. She enjoyed painting and collecting antiques.  She bought my Grandpa a red leather chair for their family room so that he could fit in. LOL

She had wonderful chalk drawings that she had done over their kitchen table. I once admired an large old Whatnot Shelf that she had in the hallway and she said that it had come over here in from Ireland the 1700’s; it was in Mint Condition. It was among many antiques that she used everyday.  I guess, living alone for over 40 years you wouldn’t get to many scratches.

Melva passed away at the Mount Pleasant Nursing Home in Monroe, Ohio.

God Bless and Keep You always!

Love that lasts involves a real and genuine concern for others as persons, for their values as they feel them, for their development and growth.” ~ Evelyn Duvall

 

We are…

Soooo alike…       ~       Soooo different…

A quick review of genealogy blogs shows that many bloggers have made resolutions to write more about genealogy in 2009. Yes, you should blog more about genealogy! Carve out a little time for yourself (that means make an appointment for YOU and put it on your calendar). If you have a little writer’s block, don’t worry. Help is on the way!

Have a family member be a guest blogger. Let a family member take the reins and provide a different perspective for a post or two. If you can’t find anyone to take the job, interview a relative and spotlight the person yourself.

“I try to allow family members to help write every post. It’s a group effort and this is how we learn. We agree to disagree.” ~ Sheila Jean Adkins Metcalf

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Sisters are two different flowers from the same garden.